Happy book please

How about "Away with the penguins" by Hazel Prior? Warm and funny.
Quote from the Amazon blurb - "Veronica doesn't have family or friends nearby. Not that she knows about, anyway . . . And she has no idea where she's going to leave her considerable wealth when she dies.

But today . . . today Veronica is going to make a decision that will change all of this."

Three men in a boat and Cold Comfort Farm

Any of the Sally Page books - The Book of Beginnings, The Keeper of Stories and The Secrets of Flowers. Gentle, heartwarming stories.

I read the Lilian Beckwith books decades ago. I had forgotten about them. I think I will re-read them if they're still in print.

I agree that anything by P G Wodehouse is joyful, particularly the Jeeves and Wooster books because of Bertie Wooster's inimitable narrative voice. The Mr Mulliner stories are little gems too.

I also recommend Nina Stibbe's books. Her first one, "Love, Nina" is her best. Also "Vinegar Girl" by Anne Tyler. All of her novels are brilliant but "Vinegar Girl", her modern re-telling of "The Taming Of The Shrew", is the most light-hearted.

Aveline

I dont know. I used to like Miss Read but on reading one recently I just found it irritating. Try DH Stevenson? The Mrs Tim series is fun. Very much of its time of course.
EM Delafield is terrific too especially her 'Diary of a Provincial Lady' series.

That’s interesting because I re-read all the Thrush Green series and enjoyed them but started the Fairacre ones and found them a bit tedious.
There are lots of great suggestions here, some of which I haven’t read, so thankyou. I find I’m less and less keen on my previous diet of thrillers, police procedurals etc. I think maybe because the world is in such a state I’m seeking escapism of a different sort?

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell.

You Are Here - David Nicholls

Not Spaghetti
I loved Miss Bensons Beetle

I've just read The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. A brilliant book, I really enjoyed it.

Totally agree about Three Men in a Boat and disagree with the Unlikely Voyage of Harold Fry, the ending is so bleak. (Or perhaps I was not in the right place when I read it).

The Guncle by Steven Rowley. Ever the fun uncle, Patrick is suddenly left in charge of his niece and nephew. It's heartwarming and witty, with the characters coming together while coming out over the weight of grief.

Silas Marner by George Elliot - dark moments but lovely in the end.
If you want something more contemporary, try Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshigazu Kawaguchi. And the sequels in a similar vein.

I'll second You Are Here - in fact, any of the David Nicholls books. Funny and touching - and unputdownable.

Your group could try The Belle Fields and sequel Ashes of Roses by Lora Adams. Very descriptive, funny, sad, serious and a real twist at the end of Belle Fields! Couldn't wait to get hold of the sequel, Ashes, to read how things turned out - not what I expected!

The series of books by A J Pearce about the staff of a women’s magazine set during WW2. The first one is Dear Mrs Bird, about letters being sent to the problem page. The books take you back to wartime London. It still maintain a cheerful feeling throughout.

Cider with Rosie or
Lark Rise to Candleford

This review says it better than I could:

"Catherine Fox's glorious Lindchester series is the twenty-first-century answer to Trollope's Barchester. - but Trollope was never so funny, so fundamentally kind or so mischievously attentive to grace." Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill

The first of the Lindchester Chronicles is Acts and Omissions

Any book by Anne Tyler is usually paints a humorous picture of family life in the US, particularly Baltimore, with excellent observations of weird and wonderful characters.
Would recommend The Accidental Tourist for starters.

Grandma600

I second anything by PG Wodehouse or EF Benson (notably the Mapp and Lucia series) and would add The Barchester Chronicles by Anthony Trollope. Happy reading!

‘Paying Guests’ by E F Benson is very funny!
However I find some of his earlier novels deadly serious and very moralistic.

‘Thorley Weir’ is another of his I’d recommend - not for laughs but a very good, satisfying read - a decidedly unpleasant character who makes a lot of money out of exploiting struggling young writers and artists, finally gets his come-uppance.

I like Mike Gayle's books. He's a local (Birmingham) author. His books are heartwarming.

Anne Griffin is a good author.
When All is Said.
The Island of Longing
Listening Still.
All excellent books. 👌

I like Amanda Craig's books which are semi amusing state of the nation satires about serious subjects, whilst simultaneously poking the fun out of larger than life media caricatures. These were her most recent ones which encapsulated those qualities. The Lie of the Land, The Golden Rule and The Three Graces.

Janice Hallett's first run away success , The Appeal. About A fund raising exercise related through a series of emails, featuring participants of a small town amateur dramatics society with a murder at the heart of the plot. Definitely had its funny moments.

Just finished The Appeal, TerriBull and I can't remember when I've laughed out loud so much throughout a book!
Love the 'Ladies of Letters' feel to it.

Joanna Nell books, set in Australia:

The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village
The Great Escape from the Woodlands Nursing Home
Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year
The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital

"Away with the penguins" by Hazel Prior?
Yes, a lovely book.

Lovemylife

Cold Comfort Farm made me laugh out loud, as did Lessons in Chemistry.

Lessons in Chemistry.

I bought this a while ago but haven't read it yet.
Right, next after the one I've just started.